The GAO would provide the in-depth, careful analysis Congress needs to
conduct effective oversight of the intelligence
community. As argued in a letter sent this afternoon to the House of
Representatives:

GAO reports play an essential role in effective congressional oversight
of the intelligence community. And yet, the Obama administration and the
intelligence community repeatedly have moved to block GAO reports to
Congress, including by issuing a veto threat to the Intelligence
Authorization bill that would have restored GAO's role in oversight.
Cutting off critical oversight tools does not make us safer, but rather
puts our nation at risk by limiting the information Congress needs in
order to assess national security threats, civil liberties violations,
misuse of taxpayer dollars, gaps in information sharing, and problematic
management issues.

Comments

I totally agree that the intelligence community needs GAO oversight. I have audited intelligence agency contracts and can attest that the intelligence community contracting officers bend over backwards to give sweet deals to contractors. Audit findings are routinely ignored in the "interest of national security." If the President and Congress want to save money, cut the intelligence budgets and then maybe the contracting officers will get serious about negotiating fair and reasonable contract prices. Currently, "negotiation" means give the contractor what they ask for. I have even seen the price increased in a few instances even when the contractor did not ask for a higher price. No joking!